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Who is the Real Enemy?

Dr. Ray Pritchard

Dr. Ray Pritchard is the president of Keep Believing Ministries, in Internet-based ministry serving Christians in 225 countries. He is the author of 29 books, including Stealth Attack, Fire and Rain, Credo, The ABCs of Christmas, The Healing Power of Forgiveness, An Anchor for the Soul and Why Did This Happen to Me? Ray and Marlene, his wife of 39 years, have three sons-Josh, Mark and Nick, two daughters-in-law--Leah and Vanessa, and four grandchildren grandsons: Knox, Eli, Penny and Violet. His hobbies include biking, surfing the Internet, and anything related to the Civil War.

2009Apr 29

Comments

Not long ago I received the following email:

I am
studying Ephesians 6 about the Armor of God & and there is one
verse that I’m afraid I don’t get the full meaning of. It’s verse 12

“For
our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

A couple of questions I had...

1. What does this verse mean?2.
What does it mean when it says “the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms"? Does it mean in Heaven? Or does it mean in all the
earth?3. When it talks about the rulers and authorities is it
talking about literally those that rule our countries, nations, etc? Or
is it talking about those rulers who are not Christian who have been
put in a position of power?

In order to get our hands around this verse, let’s look at it in several other versions:

“We
are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and
authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual
world” (CEV).

“For we are not fighting against
flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the
unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against
evil spirits in the heavenly places” (NLT).

Here are four facts about our satanic opponents:

They are numerous.
Note the various expressions in verse 12. They are principalities and
powers. They are rulers. They are authorities. These different
expressions describe the many different ranks and categories of evil
spirit beings.

They are powerful. Don’t
think of Casper the Friendly Ghost or of some nice spirit beings who
like to play tricks on you. The demons are real and they aren’t on your
side. J. B. Phillips calls them “spiritual agents from the very
headquarters of evil.”

They are wicked. They follow no moral code. They live only to do the devil’s bidding. They are opposed to all that is good and holy and right.

They are clever. Paul speaks of schemes and diabolical plans. Do not be deceived into thinking the demons are stupid. They are morally corrupt but as spirit beings, they possess enormous intelligence.
Like spies working for some lethal enemy, the demons know the weak
spots in our armor. They lie in wait, looking for a chance to pounce.

What should we learn from Ephesians 6:12?

First, it reminds us that our battle is not against other humans. We
do not struggle against flesh and blood. Sometimes we focus on the
abortionists, the pornographers, the godless politicians, the corrupt
business leaders, the drug dealers, and the purveyors of filth, as if
they were the source of our problems. Yet those people are unwitting
dupes of powerful spiritual forces that they know nothing about. They
are morally culpable for their choices, yet they are also in the
service of evil beings that influence them in ways they do not realize.
Or we could make it more personal. When someone has hurt us deeply,
it’s easy to say, “That person is the source of all my problems.” But
our struggle is not with flesh and blood even though it seems that way
most of the time.